Fwd: Japanese Religion in Film

[tim.iles at utoronto.ca]

Just a few thoughts to start off what surely will be a more complete list:

Miyazakai Hayao's films all seem to have a definite religious
(spiritual/Shinto) component, with _Tonari no Totoro_ (_My Neighbour
Totoro_) working almost as a Shinto how-to manual. _Sen to Chihiro no
kamikakushi_ (_Spirited Away_) of course, set as it is in a bath house for
_kami_ comes immediately to mind.

Two older films are _Enjo_ by Ichikawa Kon, from 1958, and _Sansho dayu_
by Mizoguchi Kenji, from 1954. This latter one presents a very critical
opinion of the deceitfulness or self-centred fatalism of organised
religion while highlighting the positive qualities of action--ie., "Buddha
helps those who seek to help others." Well, something like that!

A not-too recent film by Nagasaki Shunichi, _Shikoku_ (_Land of the
Dead_), while not a groundbreaking work, features shamanism and Shinto
symbolism in a vaguely creepy ghost-story package.

Kore-eda Hirokazu's _Wandafuru raifu_ (_Afterlife_) from 1998 is set in a
"waystation" for the recently deceased, but while this may be an
interesting work in terms of its imagining of the afterlife, it doesn't
have a religious focus per se.

Even Kurosawa's _Doudesukaden_ may work, featuring as it does the devout
mother/mocking son pair...

I'm sure there are many more, and better, works to suggest--looking
forward to reading other replies,


Tim Iles
University of Victoria